Mediating and slaying
by Pandagirl66
Summary: Suze gets unwillingly sent to stay with her cousin Buffy, both of them hiding their special abilities from eachother. But when Suze meets a ghost killed by vampires, she'll need help from Sunnydale's one and only Slayer.
1. What's Her Excuse?

Let me know what you think, I'm just not sure.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Absolutely nothing.

**Note from the author: **Just so you know, this is set in season three of Buffy and it's a little while after Ninth Key/ High Stakes. Why? Just because. And the Ninth Key thing works well with the vampire thing, ya know? But mostly just because. And AvrilSays obviously beta'd this first chapter, like forever ago, but I don't know yet if she'll be doing the rest.

**Note from the beta:** All right, American readers; since I'm Singaporean, I speak and write using British English, so some words might seem to be spelled differently to you. I apologise if it causes any confusion.

I sat awkwardly at the back of the police van, rather annoyed. I mean, sure, I'd been breaking and entering, but you'd think people would be a little more grateful after I found all that money that their grandfather had hidden just before his heart attack. I tell you, I have a seriously thankless job - and I wasn't particularly looking forward to another 'discussion' with Mum.

The car pulled into our driveway and I walked up to the front door accompanied by two policemen. The look on Mom's face when she opened the door was enough to make me wince, and it wasn't long before I was sitting on the couch in front of her and Andy. Boy, this was going to be fun.

"Now, Suzie, I thought we agreed to put this behind us."

"We did, it's just-"

"You know I'm worried about you."

"I know, I-"

"You were actually doing pretty well when we first moved here."

"Yeah, it-"

"So, I was thinking, maybe you just need to take a break."

"It's just- huh?"

"I've talked to my sister, Joyce. Remember your Aunt Joyce? We haven't seen her in forever. I've decided that you will stay with them for the next couple months, just to cool things off a bit."

"But school, and -"

"You can go to school there. I'll talk to Father Dominic about having your records transferred. I know it seems drastic, but I really do think it will help you. Plus, Buffy's a nice girl - you two will probably get along fantastic. You haven't seen each other in years."

Well, that was true. But, still...

"You can't just make me stop everything that's going on in my life and move me to some other town."

"I can, and I will. I'm sorry, but you really need this."

My poor mum. I think she was getting desperate to try and fix all this- but my problems aren't exactly something that a little vacation and a few trips to a therapist could cure. But it didn't look like I was going to be able to argue.

"Okay, when am I leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

"What, so soon?"

"They just live a couple hours away, in Sunnydale. I'll drive you there in the afternoon." She stood up and patted my shoulder. "I think this'll be good for you, sweetie. Now, go to bed, you can pack in the morning."

I sighed. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Buffy, honey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, but I gotta go patrol."

"Do you remember Aunt Helen and your cousin, Suze?"

Buffy shrugged. "Vaguely."

"Well, Suze is going to be staying here for a little while."

"She's _what_?" I yelled. She couldn't just spring something on me like this! What about patrol? And Slayer duties? And-

"Well, she's been in some trouble with the law, and Helen thought it'd be good for her to come out here, for a change of scenery."

"Where's she going to sleep?"

"In the guest room, of course. It's pretty close to yours, isn't it? I'll need your help cleaning my old museum stuff out."

"So she's coming down because she's getting in trouble with the cops, and you want me to sleep right down the hall from her?"

"Oh, try to be nice, or at least open-minded. I seriously doubt she'll be much of a threat."

"But how am I going to keep the Slayer stuff secret?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. You kept it from me long enough."

Buffy refrained from pointing out that her mother was much more oblivious than the average teenage girl. Instead, she just sighed.

"I guess. When's she coming?"

"Tomorrow. She lives just a couple hours away, in Carmel."

"Tomorrow? Are you kidding me?"

"Buffy! You spend most your time fighting evil to save people, but you aren't even willing to help your own cousin."

"Fine, I'll try. I'm going now."

"Be careful!"

If I had thought the police car ride had been uncomfortable and awkward, this was a thousand times worse. Mum and I just sat in silence, coasting along toward my doom. Okay, so maybe that's a little dramatic, but I couldn't believe this was happening. Not to mention, I did a little research - okay, so CeeCee did some research, but whatever - and Sunnydale had a killer mortality rate, no pun intended. The place was probably swarming with ghosts. Fun.

It went on like that, in complete silence, until we got to Sunnydale. Now, I'd never actually been there, but the gigantic, brightly-coloured 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign made it pretty hard to miss. From there, we drove to a neighbourhood, and then pulled up into the drive of a pretty, well-kept, entirely ordinary house.

_Okay_, I told myself, making an (pretty weak, in my opinion) attempt to be optimistic as I stepped out of the car, _this may not actually be too bad. After all, I haven't seen Aunt Joyce or Buffy in forever. It'll be great to see my cousin again. Right? RIGHT?_

I decided that my pep talks needed some work. I made a mental note of that.

Mom got out too and helped me unload my suitcases from the trunk.

"Suzie, I want you to know that you should feel that you can talk to your cousin. She's had trouble with the law herself- but she got through it. Joyce tells me she's doing much better now."

Oh, great, my cousin was an ex-convict. I know, that may sound hypocritical coming from me, but at least I have a reason. I mean, my law-breaking is for the good of humanity, and so on. What excuse does she have?

"Why don't we meet in the library after school?" Willow asked as she and Buffy walked down the halls of Sunnydale High School.

"Sorry, Will. I have to be at home tonight."

"Why?"

"My cousin's gonna come stay with us for awhile, she'll go to school here and everything. She got arrested, and everyone but my mom seems to think that the trip down here will do her wonders."

"Knowing Sunnydale, she may not actually make it back alive," Xander pointed out, coming up behind them.

"Exactly! I don't know what Mom was thinking!"

"I'm sure she was just trying to do the right thing," Willow said.

Xander nodded seriously, "At least if she's dead, she can't get into trouble with the cops."

Buffy shrugged, unconvinced by Willow but resigned. "You're probably right. Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge. I mean, I've had my fair share of trouble with the law and all."

"Yeah, but you're the Slayer, Buffy. What excuse does _she_ have?"

"Good point."

I stood in the doorway of Aunt Joyce's house, feeling incredibly awkward. As soon as she'd opened the door, my mum and her were hugging and gushing about how they hadn't seen each other in forever and blah, blah. It was almost intimidating, really.

Well, I decided to take advantage of their current distraction to take a look around the house. So, I set my bag down on the floor and started to wander around. It really was a nice house, pleasant and airy. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows, and gave it a kind of glow. It wasn't long before I found the stairway and decided to take a look upstairs. I hadn't come across mine or Buffy's room yet, so chances were that they were that way.

Don't get me wrong, I was usually totally against the snooping thing and all, but this place was going to be my home for the next...well, I'm not entirely sure how long. But I was probably gonna be here for awhile, and I wanted to know what I could. So, I climbed the steps and walked down the hall, glancing in doorways. It didn't take long to find the room that would be mine. There were a few dusty cardboard boxes against the far wall, a twin bed with a plain white comforter, and a small dresser - not to mention a good-sized window that I could easily sneak out of if the need arose, as I was sure it would. Satisfied, I dropped the backpack I'd been carrying next to the bed and continued wandering down the hall. A quick glance in one doorway told me that it must be Buffy's room. Suddenly curious, I stuck my head inside and looked around.

It appeared to be an average teenage girl's room, other than the large, black duffel bag sitting on the floor. Suddenly nosey, I crept in and tried to get a better look.

It was big, bulky, and...was that a _cross_ sticking out of it? Weird. I'd admit, I shouldn't be picking around in her stuff. But my curiosity got the better of me and I leaned toward the bag.

"What are you _doing_?"

I jumped. And tripped. And then fell on face. Way to make a great first impression.

Finally, I was standing and facing whom I could only assume was Buffy, though she looked plenty different from the last time I'd seen her. Granted, that'd been quite some time ago.

"Oh, um, I'm really sorry. I don't normally go through people's stuff – but, I don't know, my mum and yours were talking, and I just started looking around, seeing where stuff was, since I'd be living here, and...sorry," I fumbled, feeling my face turn red.

"It's okay, I guess. But if you're going to be living here, rule one is to stay out of my room, especially when I'm not here. That all right with you?"

"Got it. I'll just...go put some stuff away in my room."

"That sounds good."

I went to say goodbye to my mum, who'd finally decided she'd better get going, and then Buffy and I took all the rest of my stuff up to my new room. As I sat there, half-unpacked suitcases on the floor by me, I was mulling over the series of occurrences earlier that day and thinking that it might not be such a bad idea to stay there. After all, Aunt Joyce was a lovely person, despite her earlier gush-fest with my mother. And Buffy was pretty nice – she didn't act like an ex-convict at all, and she was really helpful in helping me drag my suitcases to my room.

I'd just decided to risk feeling optimistic when Jesse materialized in front of me.

**Like? No like? Tell me!**

**Beta'd by AvrilSays/DangerouslyAvril**


	2. Buffy Is Not a Potatoe

**It took me longer than I'd planned, but much shorter than my updates tend to come. So be grateful. Or just review. That would work, too.**

**Disclaimer: I own completely nothing. I am a hobo.**

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked automatically.

I mean, sure, I was glad to see him and all. It was kind of hard to not be glad to see him-he was Jesse, after all- but he was so totally the last person I had expected to show up in my bedroom."

He just frowned," There is something very wrong about this town, Susannah."

"Well, thank you for that fascinating and helpful little tidbit. Now, are you planning to answer my question?"

"Oh, I followed you."

"Any particular reason for that?"

"As I said, this place is wrong."

I sighed," Yeah, I kinda noticed something weird about it, too. Do you think there's such thing as Mediator's intuition?"

" Perhaps.I certainly would like to take a look around."

" for trying to help and everything,but I can handle it.I'm completely nothig else,it'll give me something to do wile Im waiting to go back home."

"Susannah,I do not think you is something _very_ bad going on,and you are not going to be able to handle it by yourself."

"Okay,fine,go look what you can dig up._I'll_ be unpacking."

Jesse disappeared without a word,though whether that was becuase he had nothing left to say or that a knock sounded at my door at that very moment,I don't know."

Aunt Joyce opened the door,"Suze,honey,we're going to eat now."

"Okay,thanks.I'll be right down."

Buffy kicked a rock in the cemetary. She wasn't quite sure what to make of Suze. The girl seemed nice and everything, and sneaking out past her to patrol hadn't been hard, but she had been snooping around her room earlier ,and almost got into her weapons bag. That put her on Buffy's bad list, at least temporarily. Not to mention, she could swear she'd heard the girl talking to herself before dinner.

All this thinking was distracting her so much from patrolling that the vampire sneaking up behind her almost caught her by suprise-almost. She heard the footsteps at the last second, and twirled around to get in a good roundhouse kick to the chest and staked him quickly.

Looking around , Buffy realized there were almost no other vamps out. She'd just sit behind that tombstone there for a moment, then. Take a rest and wait for some more creepy crawlies to show themselves. Yeah, that was a good idea.

Buffy jolted awake at the sound of low voices and muffled footsteps. Judging by the position of the moon, she hadn't been asleep very long. That was something good, at least. She quickly came to her senses and peeked silently around the tombstone, listening and watching intently.

A vampire-one of five-was speaking,"Man, Crank, you got us the best set-up I've seen since that cave in '46."

"Yeah,I 's pretty sweet-and right under the Slayer's nose,too."the guy who had to be Crank of them laughed-loudly.

"Shush,"Crank hissed,"We're supposed to be sneaking."

Buffy rolled her eyes,_If they're sneaking,then I'm a potatoe,_She thought._For a group of bloodsucking nighthunters,they aren't very stealthy._

Deciding to demonstrate some actual stealth,she followed them easily back to their nest,where six other vampires were ,they had a pretty big group 'd have to report to Giles immediatly,so that they could launch a full-fledged Scooby attack in a night or two.

She crept back home, phoned Giles to give him the update, then dropped, exhausted, into bed. She had passed Suze's room on the way, and there hadn't been a single noise-Buffy envied her cousin getting such a good night's sleep.

I frowned miserably at my reflection. I'd been out all night,daring to drop out my window as early as ten and not getting back in until nearly had been _.ghosts._I don't think I'd seen that many in about my entire life.

I marvelled yet again at all the petty things that can keep people from moving on. A flower in a garden, a rock in someone's backyard, who got the sequin dress that both someone's sisters had fought over after she had bit the dust. And it was _my_ job to fix it all. Not an easy job, and definitly not good for one's complexion. Too bad that all had to happen on the night before my first day at Buffy's high well, maybe everybody here would be like the kids back at Juniphero Mission Academy. I could always threaten to break someone's fingers again.

"Suze, honey, would you like some breakfast?" Buffy's mom called up the hallway.

I ran a hand through my rather pathetic looking hair."Yeah,thanks. Be down soon!"

May as well face the music, I thought. I hopped downstairs, ate quickly, then rushed back up to do what I could to make myself look okay. Half an hour later, I was standing in front of Sunnydale High School, Buffy beside me.

"So...what now?" I asked nervously.

"Now, we walk inside."

"Oh, yeah. Right." I started toward the front door, but I didn't actually make it before I was sidetracked by a couple of kids running up beside us, calling Buffy's name. A girl with long, red hair and a fashion disorder- no offense to her- and a boy with short, dark hair.

"Hey, Buff, this your cousin?" he dropped his voice in a patetic attempt at a whisper," 'Cause you failed to mention she's hot."

Buffy gave him a brief glare, then made introductions. "Suze, these are my friends, Willow and Xander. Willow and Xander, this is my cousin, Suze."

Willow smiled sweetly," Hi , Suze. Welcome to Sunnydale."

"Yeah, welcome to Sunnydale." Xander siad," You know, this weekend, you and me could go around town, I could show you the best hang out places and everything."

"Oh, really?"

"Or, rather, place. There's not a lot going on here."

Buffy rolled her eyes,"Ignore him. We're gonna be late."

I didn't really think tardiness would be the best start to my time here, so i stopped talking and finished my walk into the school.

"I can show you where the office is, then I'm off to class." Buffy said.

"Okay, thanks."

At the end of the day, I siged and gathered the various textbooks I'd gotten from teachers. The first day of school hadn't been completely awful, but I was beyond exhausted and I hadn't seen Buffy all day. Three of my new classes were supposed to have her in them, but she hadn't been in any of them. Now that I thougt about it, neither had those two friends of her's. What were their names? Oh, yeah, Willow and Xander. I wondered where they'd been.

I was so busy following this train of thought and trying to keep standing consious as I left the school that I didn't even notice that there was someone right in front of me. That is, until I'd run into them.

"Oh, sorry," I grumbled, stumbling backwards. I happened to note that, whoever it was I'd bumped into, they had awfully good taste in footwear.

"Yeah, you should be." the snooty tone reminded me briefly of Kelly, but I looked up and recognized the girl as Cordelia Chase, the one I'd already pegged as resident queen of everything.

She frowned,"Hey, you're that new girl, right? The one that's Buffy's...something."

"Cousin."

"Yeah, whatever. So, are you, like, a freak, too?"

I narrowed my eyes,"Excuse me?"

"Well, you know, I thought it might run the family, with her being a va- Oh my god!"

I spun around to look at where she was pointing "What? What is it?"

"I can't believe it! Do you see that?"

"See what?" there wasnt any flying objects or hysterical scraming, which was a good sign.

"Harmony! She totally got a haircut! Without even _telling_ me!"

"Oh." I rolled my eyes ,"So, what were you saying about Buffy?"

But Cordelia was already running after her friend. Oh, well. I didn't have the energy.

Juat after Cordelia was out of sight, Buffy found me.

"So, cuz, how was your first day?" Her friends were there to, and I gave them all my best attempt at a smile.

"Oh, you know, kind of tiring. But not bad. Where were you, though? I didn't see you all day."

Buffy glanced down briefly, "Oh, I was called down to the library. Just, you know, some book stuff to sort out."

I raised my eyebrow, entirely unconvinced, but there was no way that I was questioning her in my present state. She'd gotten lucky-this time. But I was reminded of what Cordelia had said. I seemed like I wasn't the only one with a secret. I'd figure it out later.

"Okay, whatever. Can we head home? I neep a nap. A really, really long nap."

Buffy looked vaugely relieved. "Yeah, sure." she said goodbye to Willow and Xander, then we left.

Ah. Sweet, blessed sleep. Three whole hours of it. Or course, I was still tired when I was jolted awake by the sound of Buffy calling me down to eat. But three hours had made a vast improvement. On everything but my hair, at least. My hair appeared to be a lost cause. But whatever.

I bounded downstairs, where Buffy and Aunt Joyce were already sitting down to eat. I joined them, and there was an awkward silence as I shoveled food into my mouth. I was seriously starving. I'm telling you, mediating is such an energy drainer.

"Buffy, why don't you show Suze around tomorrow night?"

Buffy sighed. "Mom, you know I have things to do."

"Oh, come on. She's your cousin, and she's new. You can't just leave her sitting here alone on a Friday night."

Buffy's grip on her fork tightened forcefully. "Mom. We talked about this."

"Um, staying in is fine with me," I interrupted. "I don't want to ruin Buffy's plans or anything."

Aunt Joyce shook her head. "I just…fine."

The rest of dinner was spent in the same awkward silence that it had started in, though Buffy and her mother seemed to be sending each other very meaningful looks over their food. Finally, Buffy excused herself, rushing to set her utensils in the sink and rush upstairs. I followed shortly after, placing my fork next to her's, which I could've sworn was slightly bent. But it must've just been my imagination.

Letting out a long breathe, I heaved myself up the stairs to catch what sleep I could before another long night of thankless ghost busting. This was hardly turning out to be the relaxing vacation that my poor mother had meant for it to be. Then again, since when did anything I was involved in actually go as planned?


	3. Cute ghosts and not punny stakeouts

**wow, another chapter already. That's a record for me. Please enjoy my hard work. **

Buffy was extraordinarily frustrated with her mother, which was not technically unusual. Plenty of people spent the majority of their adolescence being frustrated with their parents. Buffy, however, got along very well with her mother. For the most part. Most of their arguments stemmed from Joyce's overwhelming protectiveness of the one girl in the world that really didn't need protecting from. Such as now.

She'd spent almost all of school in the library, explaining to Giles, Willow and Xander about the vamps and making plans to go in and dust them Friday night, only to come home and have her mother tell her that she thought it was too dangerous. As if Buffy hadn't raided vampire nests before, or done a million other even more dangerous things. Yet her mother had insisted. She'd even gone so far as to try and force her to make plans with Suze. Buffy had been infinitely grateful when Suze had taken her side. She'd even thanked her.

She knew that her mother wouldn't really try to stop her when it came down to it and she knew that, even if she did try, she'd never suceed. That, however, did not make in any less frustrating. In fact, it made it worse. Why did she insist on getting so worked up all the time when there was nothing she could really do? Buffy didn't understand it and probably never would. In the end, there was really only one thing she could do. Gear up and go kill some creatures of the night. Before she could, though, there was a tap at her window.

I slept for a couple of hours before slipping out into the night. It had been painfully tempting to stay in bed, nestled up in the soft, warm covers, but I knew it wouldn't last. If I don't come to the ghosts, they'll come to me. At least this way, it's on my terms. Sort of.

I met several just walking down the street, some with clear purposes, some totally clueless, and some that were just plain rude. I had to throw a few punches, not to mention dodge some, before a particular ghost caught my eye. He was slumped on the ground in an alley (this town seemed to have an unusual amount of dark, creepy alleys for being so small) next to a dumpster, apparently oblivious to everything going on around him. He didn't even look up when I crouched down in front of him.

"So…what's your deal?" I asked casually. There was no response.

"Um, hello? Dude? Can you hear me?" I waved my hand in front of his face. It occurred to me, ever so briefly, that I could try being a little more sensitive. Frankly, though, I was too damn tired. So I just waved my hand around a little more instead.

The ghost slowly pulled his head out of his hands and stared at me glumly.

Despite being both dead and blatantly miserable, he was pretty hot. I cleared my throat.

"Hey, uh, what's your story?"

He blinked, facial features slowly forming into a mask of confusion.

"My…story?"

"Yeah, your story. Why are you here?"

Comprehension dawned on him. "Oh, my story."

"Uh, yeah. Your story."

I wasn't too sure about this guy's intelligence level at this point, but he seemed to perk up pretty fast now that I'd gotten through to him.

"My-my girlfriend! She never knew! Still doesn't know! Can you help me? Can you? _Please_?"

"Whoah, whoah. " I held up both hands in warning. "Slow down, cowboy. First things first. What the hell are you talking about? Slowly, please."

He took a deep breathe. "Okay. I…I was going to meet my girlfriend at the diner around the corner. It was about a week ago, I think."

"So far, so good."

"I was going to propose to her. I had the ring and everything. But then I died and she didn't know, and- you'll help me, right?"

I smiled softly. I mean, come on, I wasn't totally heartless. Not to mention, he was even easier on the eyes once he'd calmed down a bit.

"Sure I will." I said.

He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of me. "The ring. She needs to get the ring."

"Okay, I can get it to her. Where's the ring?"

"It fell. Under there." he gestured to the dumpster that he'd been huddled next to.

"Oh." was all I said, but inside I was going, _Ewwwww! I have to dig under a dumpster? _I gulped, _So gross, so gross…now, come on, Suze, you can do it. This is totally worth it. Right?_

"Are you sure it's under there? Like absolutely, 100%?"

"No doubt about it."

I made a resigned face and knelt down next to the dumpster. I would need to lay flat on my stomache in order to reach under it. The alley floor did not look hygienic by any definition, there wasn't much in the way of options, so I forced myself to press down against the grime and fished blindly around for approximately thirty seconds before my fingers came in contact with something that had the exact dimensions of a little jewelry box. I yanked it out and quickly jumped up, brushing dirt and I-don't-want-to-know off of me. I'll take homicidal, psychotic ghosts any day compared to _that_.

"Got it!" I announced triumphantly, examining the box.

It was covered in dust and gunk, but a quick peek inside assured me that the ring had suffered no damage. Now that I was up and relatively germ-free, it almost felt worth it. You know, being in the name of love and all.

I bent down next to the cute ghost boy, who now looked far more cheerful, and held it out in my palm.

"Here, now I can take it to your girlfriend. Just tell me where she lives. Can't be far from here, considering the size of this town."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

I, of course, received his gratitude in a gracious and ladylike manner. Which is to say, I shrugged and went, "I just hope she was worth ruining my nails."

Jesse did not appreciate being ignored. He should be used to it, considering the vast majority of the population could not even see him, but it was still very annoying. Especially when Susannah ignored him- and his advice. Then went and almost gotten herself killed. No matter how many times it happened, she never listened, and now was no exception, despite the fact that Jesse was becoming more uncomfortable and suspicious with this place by the moment. Thus, he was sulking.

Well, sulking was a slight exaggeration. He was simply waiting for Susannah in her new room so that he could lecture her. That was all. Not that he thought it would do any good. One had to try, though. He could hear, down the hall, Susannah's cousin making quite a noise in her room. There was a crash, then the whoosh of a window opening. Jesse wondered briefly what in the world could be going on, but didn't move from his spot on Susannah's new bed. It would be rude to interrupt. It wasn't until the voices floated intermittently through the walls that he grew worried. The voice of Susannah's cousin was barely discernable.

"…come with us…could be dangerous…keep my cousin away…"

It wasn't much to go on, but Jesse still found it alarming. Even more so when a deeper voice replied in a murmer too low for him to catch anything but "nest' and "killed." he didn't catch anything else until the voices stopped and there was a muffled thump. Finally deciding to investigate, Jesse popped outside in time to see Buffy jogging briskly away from her house with something in her hand. A figure, outlined by the light in her room, leaned out the open window and watched her go. Jesse was utterly baffled, more so than any other time that he could remember, but he had a very bad feeling about it all. He materialized into the room that Buffy had just vacated via window in the hopes of discovering something about this odd situation. Or at least get a better look at who ever had been with her.

He never expected the dark-haired stranger to whirl on him suspiciously and demand to know just who the hell he was.

"So, how did you die, anyway?" I asked casually as I strode down the street, Cute Ghost Boy- whose name was actually Brennan- leading me to the home of his former beloved.

"Oh, a vampire attacked me. It was pretty messy."

I laughed uneasily. "Ha ha. Funny."

He frowned. "I'm not kidding. It was pretty painful." Confusion was all over his face, like he really didn't understand why I didn't believe that he'd been bitten by a creature of the night.

"Dude, hate to break it you, but vampires aren't _real_."

He stopped dead in his tracks, looking way more shocked than anybody claiming something so ridiculous had a right to look.

"You seriously don't believe in vampires?"

"Of course not. Though I did meet this guy who thought he was a vampire, and _that_ was pretty creepy."

"I can't believe this you're a girl who sees ghosts, living in Sunnydale of all places, and you don't even know about vampires?"

I was starting to get a little defensive. I mean, who did this guy think he was? I went through all that trouble to dig under a DUMPSTER for him and he's yelling at me for not believing in mythical creatures.

"Listen here, buddy. First of all, I have lived in Sunnydale for a total of a day- you hear that? ONE day. And anyway, your whiney butt would still be moping in an alley if it wasn't for me, so don't start telling me what to believe!"

"I _will_ tell you what to believe! Because you're wrong. Don't you get it? I know that they're real. One of them killed me. There's a whole nest of them not two blocks from here in the old Sutherland warehouse! They exist, okay? This place is swarming with them." He stopped, panting despite the fact that his lungs no longer required air. I was shocked. How does one respond to a speech like that, anyway?

"I- well- that's- it's ridiculous." I finally managed.

"Are you always this stubborn?" Brennan demanded.

Somehow, I found this accusation far more aggravating than everything else he said.

"You know what?," I snapped, "You can keep your stupid ring! Good luck explaining to her without me!"

Instead of apologizing and begging for my help like I'd really been hoping for him to do, he just snapped right back. "Fine! Be that way! But you'll see that I'm right!"

There was nothing left to do but for me to storm away dramatically, which is exactly what I did, while Brennan yelled after me about not accepting the blatantly obvious.

Why are the cute ones always the crazy ones?

Jesse blinked. "You…see me?"

"Well, yeah. What did you expect?"

"Quite the opposite, actually. Most people don't."

"Normal people, maybe. Surely you know that vampires can almost always see ghosts. Now what are you doing here?"

Jesse didn't even acknowledge his question. "Did you say _vampire_?"

The young man looked taken aback. It obviously hadn't been the response that he was expecting. "You couldn't tell that I was a vampire?"

"I was unaware that they existed until now."

There was a beat of silence. "Oh. That's awkward."

"Indeed."

More silence. "So…you really didn't know?"

"No."

"What about werewolves and demons? Ever met any of them?"

Jesse was uncertain if a ghost could actually pale, but he imagined the blood draining from his face. "They are real as well, I presume?"

"Man, you really had no idea. That is just _weird_."

Jesse him an odd look, and the man shook his head.

"Anyways," he said. "I'm Angel. And you are?"

Buffy was staking out the vampire nest. No pun intended. Giles had insisted that they have as much information as possible before the attack, and Buffy had been forced to oblige. She would have rather just gone in tonight and wiped them all out, especially now that Angel had agreed to accompany them, but she was willing to go with it.

The idiot vamps from the night before hadn't mentioned the _exact_ location, but it had been easy enough to find when she knew what she was looking for. So there she crouched, shifting every now and then to keep her right leg from completely falling asleep, watching. And it was boring. She'd counted five individuals so far, but there was no telling how accurate a number it was. Even stake outs were just guess work, especially when vampires were involved. A small group walked out, laughing obnoxiously loud, and Buffy actually felt grateful for the noise. It helped keep her awake as the moon moved higher up in the sky. Another figure approached the nest, female, and Buffy shook herself to stay alert. All the other vampires she'd seen had been male. So this one obviously was new. She seemed familiar as well, though buffy couldn't tell why until she stepped under a streetlight and Buffy a clear view of her face.

_Suze._

Buffy's mind raced. Her cousin was a vampire? But no, she'd been in the sunlight before and after school. Unless she'd just been turned into one! How would Buffy explain _that_?

Maybe she wasn't a vampire, Buffy thought. She obviously wasn't part of the nest. In fact, she looked downright clueless, walking up to the abandoned building that housed at least five vampires and peering curiously in the windows. She was going to get herself killed. Buffy knew she should call out to her, even if it meant breaking cover, but something held her back. If she grabbed her, she'd have to explain. There would be one more person who knew that Buffy Summers wasn't and could never be normal.

She was still agonizing over the right thing when one of the vamps that had vacated the nest earlier came strolling around the corner. Even if she had to explain the Slayer thing to Suze, it was better than explaining a dead cousin to her mom.

**Slight almost cliffhanger-ishness. Well, not really. But I hoped you liked it. Things got kind of complicated this chapter, and a lot of stuff I'd been planning to do with it got pushed to next chapter, but hopefully it was enjoyable and made sense. And to those few of you following this story, it's the fastest update I've ever done, so be grateful. Or just review. I would **_**really**_** appreciate that. So much.**

I couldn't help thinking


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